socia media

Education in 21st century is a whole new ball game, a fact accepted by students and educators as inevitable. Both have risen to face the challenge in their own way and are making all out efforts to adapt to the demands of the new developments.

Technology helped convert the world into a global village a few years ago, breaking down barriers and helping to connect people and cultures, as physical distances became irrelevant.

New opportunities became available and new markets opened up. There was a free exchange of ideas and thoughts, benefiting even the hitherto neglected sections of society. The ball had been set in motion which would only gain greater momentum with time.

Following in the footsteps of the concept of global village, the world is fast headed towards a digital revolution, affecting the way in which we think, learn, and communicate.

Technology is becoming more prevalent, resulting in a great churning. The outcome this time may have more far-reaching consequences, especially in the employment sector. Employment opportunities are likely to shrink further as more processes are automated.

So what needs to be done? Quick adoption of technology and evolutionary learning methodology is essential to survive in this new world order.

However, for schools who are in the forefront of overseeing the transition, it is imperative to keep the parents informed about the need to introduce newer methods and how these methods are important for their children to keep pace with technology and improve their chances at employment and entrepreneurship in the 21st century.

Schools must engage with parents in order to get them on board to make the transition painless and effective.

Adjusting to the changes is a collective effort involving students, teachers and parents. This is where Social Media (SM) tools come in handy.

School website, discussion forums, blogs, facebook, and twitter are some of the tools which can be effectively leveraged to:

Encourage parents and teachers to adopt Social Media as a productivity tool.

Highlight the reach and influence of social media in creating favourable impressions and opinions.

Finally, Social Media is not to be feared, but to be adopted judiciously. Something parents need to learn in order to monitor their children’s online activity. When they understand the medium, they can take effective measures to keep their children safe on the internet.

There are other benefits too. Social Media is the way forward and it provides us with the means to communicate effectively and unambiguously, share ideas, approach influential people, build networks - the very qualities needed to be successful in the 21st century.